Handmade Crafts by Etcher

Tag Archives: trinket box

Remember when on the last day of December, New Year’s Eve, when you’re sitting around with your family and waiting for the new year to come, the discussion always heads towards “I hope next year is better than this year!”

Well, it hasn’t been so far. Actually, it’s been one step left of brutal.

The first of the year kicked off with a massive snowstorm that hit the New England and then I deployed to the Midwest for four months. The time within the four months consisted of:

Needless to say, I haven’t been feeling all that creative and crafty lately. However, as it is said, “when God closes a door, he always opens a window”; a window opened after being consumed in the fog of loss and grief for my Dad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still hurting but a spark of my former self has returned, thanks to my husband, friends and family.

The first shot in the arm was that I decided to go back to college, thanks to the provocation of my friends. I’m 6 weeks into my first class and I’m pulling a 98.2%; not too bad for an old lady such as myself. The second is that it’s come to my realization that I’ll be eligible for retirement in the next 4 – 5 years and that I’d better start laying the foundation for what I’m going to be doing once retirement happens. Knowing that once retirement occurs, my hubby and I will escape into the wilds of somewhere but a concrete fact remains that we are both technology geeks so wifi will be there…so I’m returning to the world of blogging. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it but it’s time to give it a go again.

So, for my loyal followers that wondered what happened to me, I’m back and will do everything I can do stay relevant again. Please forgive me, it’s been a really tough year…

So this past Christmas, my Hubby gave me the most amazing present I think I’ve ever gotten; a work bench in my craft room!! Craftsman to be exact! It’s got the awesome magnifier light and the comfy swivel seat that has the footrest bar along the bottom. The best part is that there are bunch of drawers along the side that I absolutely love!!

Anyway, this is another box that looked absolutely beautiful without the color added to it. I was pleasantly surprised when I was finished and it seemed to work out. I wanted the color to stand out with bold colors and then the outside “leaves” to be more subdued. I think it worked out pretty well.

I know I haven’t posted in a while. Between work and sort of being on a knitting kick lately, I finally sat down and did a few more jewelry boxes with the wood burning and paint.

I actually did this one a few months ago. After I finished wood burning the image onto the box, I was almost tempted not to paint it. However, I found that there is an amazing assortment of metallic paints that are readily available at my local craft store (yep, Michaels) and once I really started looking at the shelves and shelves of different paint, there is quite the variety available.

After randomly selecting the colors, as they felt right, I painted.

The only thing I’m disappointed with is that I’m having a really hard time getting the picture quality I like. It’s very hard to see the metallic effects from this one. I’ll actually try again when I seal it and see if it helps.

First off….WOW!!! The response to my lost blog entry was unbelievable!! Who would have thought that eggs would be so interesting? I’m still thinking that I need to start working on another one sometime soon but since I’m still working the night shift, it’s out of the question; way to noisy.

This is a “quiet” project that I’ve recently done. My niece (my clone, actually…) has a birthday coming up this month and I thought she’d like it. We have a little thing that we do since I live here on Cape Cod and she lives in Michigan…we actually write letters to each other!! No, not emails or tweets or Facebook entries…write with a writing instrument and paper. When I get a letter from her, I normally send her some homemade little jewelry thing, mostly necklaces. So I figured that she needed a box to put them in. I showed my sister (her Mom) these pics and she decided that she wanted it instead. Ummm…no. I’m making one for her too. That will probably be the next entry.

Anyway, it was really easy to do and this is how I did it:

First off, I think I need to explain something. I absolutely LOVE the Michael’s craft store!! There are two of them sort of close to where I live (but they’re bringing one to Hyannis this summer so I’m very happy) and I go there whenever I can. There are two places that I normally get my craft supplies; Ebay, if it’s for eggs and Michael’s if it’s for everything else. This box falls into the “everything else” category.

1. Go to Michael’s, in the unfinished wood section, and buy a box. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some even have the hinges and closures already there (like this one). The best part is that they are very inexpensive (I think I paid 3 dollars for this one) and the possibilities are endless with a little imagination.

2. Find some clip art that you like and trace it onto tracing paper. This came from a clip art book I have with a bunch of mandala’s in it. If you don’t know what a mandala is, I highly suggest you Google it…the images will blow your mind!! I don’t use the originals from the book because they’re so pretty, I don’t want to ruin them and may want to use them again.

3. Take some regular graphite paper and trace the image onto the box.

4. This is where it starts to get fun, at least for me. The darkened areas that create the outlines isn’t paint…it’s wood burned. Otherwise known as “pyrography”. Again, Google if you want to get a little more info on it. The applications are endless with the multiple tips that you can get for the wood burning tool. And yes; you can buy them at Michael’s. I like using the wood burning technique because I think it adds a beautiful, rustic feel to the piece.

5. Once the wood burning is finished, I had to decide how I was going to paint it. But I didn’t use regular paint. I don’t think you can tell from these pics but the inside of the flower petals are bronze leafing (real metal). The same as gold or silver leaf. But, this stuff is called “Rubb ‘n Buff”. It’s real metal leaf but it’s suspended in sort of a wax and can be applied with a paint brush. It comes in about 15 different finishes and adds a very nice touch. The rest of the “paint” is actually pigment that…I bought at Michael’s. I didn’t want an opaque finish because I didn’t want to overwhelm the wood burning. I watered it down until is was very thin, brushed it on and wiped the excess off with a paper towel. I’m not sure but regular craft paint should work the same way.

6. On the bottom of the box I glued 4 wooden balls to the bottom to act as legs. Yep…got them at Michael’s! The balls have one flat side to them so they can be glued on easily.

7. Once everything is dry, I sealed the whole thing with a matte finish sealant. Hubby thought a shiny finish would look good too. I may have to try that with the next one.

Anyway, there you go. One beautiful jewelry/trinket box!! Quick, inexpensive and most importantly for me…quiet to make! LOL!!

Thank you all that have been following my blog!! I’m humbled by the encouragement and kind remarks that I’ve received!!